redeemer:edited
by midnight2525
Summary: Edited version of my original story
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Dear readers sorry that I have not updated anything for so long. Due to working and going to school I haven't had the time to devote myself to writing anything but I'm looking to change that now that I have a bit of free time. Thanks everyone for their reviews(even the ones that wasn't very nice) and advise I took them to heart.

Minato Namikaze stood staring out the window of the kage tower overlooking the village as villagers ran back and forth in preparation of the Kyuubi festival.

_"What do you regret Minato?"_

I don't know.

"_Do you regret living when so many have died?" _

Do he? If he was honest no he did not. They were a village of shinobi and it was in the nature of the job to die in order to protect their village. That he was one of the lucky few to survive was not what made his heart heavy.

_"Then do you regret being hokage?" _

No that is not it. Being hokage of Konoha is a priveledge that he had been blessed with.

_"Do you regret your son?"_

**Ah, there it is. The crux that brought him to his knees. **

No, never Naruto. I do not regret him. I love my son with every fiber of my being.

_"Then why did you abandon him if you love him?"_

I abandoned him? Yes, it's true, isn't it. I abandon my baby boy. That is why my heart hurt and doubt clouds my mind. I have given up my child. I cannot blame it on Kushina or on the fox. It's all my fault.

With that the Yodaime of Konoha allowed his tears to fall as the truth finally took hold. Alone in his tower as those he led down below celebrated a mistake he had made for their sake.

**"It's your birthday kit. Shouldn't you be home celebrating?"**

Should he? It was after all his twelfth birthday and like any other boy his age he would have loved to be home with his family to celebrate but what was the point. There would be no cake or ice cream, no family or friends to sing him the happy birthday song. He was an unwelcome burden on his parents and a 'monster' or 'demon' to his only sister. No home was the last place he wanted to be at this moment.

" No Kyuubi. I think I'll skip it this year."

"" There was no answer that the nine tail beast could have made to make the boy feel better. He understood the effects he had on the boy's life and he accepted that the villagers' attitude towards Naruto was no one's fault but his own.

**"You know Kit no one would blame you if you were to leave."**

"No they wouldn't. More than likely they would just celebrate that the 'demon' was gone," Naruto answered back in the emotionless voice he had adopted over the years of disappointments. " Besides where would I go?"

**"I don't know Kit but anywhere would be better than here. What's the point of staying when not even your family wants you?" **Kyuubi knew that what he said hurt Naruto even though he could feel the boy blocking him from feeling his emotions. He did not want to hurt him but he wanted to give the boy a push to think of himself instead of the village that have done nothing but been a torment for him.

" I know Kyuubi," Naruto whispered back with a lost look in his eyes." But even though it hurt I can't help but hope they'll see me one day. I love them."

**"will you be heading home?"**

"No" There will be no one there to welcome him. More than likely his family would be out celebrating with the villagers over the defeat of the Kyuubi.

**"Then where will you go?"**

Naruto did not answer just continued to walk in the opposite direction of the village. There was only one destination in his mind as he walked to the place that gave him a semblance of peace.

Namikaze resident

Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze sat still in her chair seated at the dining room table. Waiting for her only son to walk through the door so that she could hug and kiss him. Today was her Naruto's birthday and she wanted to have a family dinner to celebrate. She was beginning to worry as the time flew by and her son have yet to come home.

"Mom?" screamed Aiko from upstairs

"Yes, dear?''

"Have you seen my kimono? I need it for the festival."

"We are not going to the festival." Kushina answered her daughter would be displeased but unable to concern herself with trying to placate her daughter mood when her sole attention was focus on her son. She had planned a huge dinner for her family in celebrating her son's birthday and her daughter was going to sit through it rather she liked it or not.

"What!" "Why?"

"We are going to stay home tonight and celebrate you brother's birthday."

"Why are we celebrating that baka's birthday? We never had before." Aiko demanded of her mother. Aiko was a beautiful young girl with her mother red flowing hair and sea green eyes. Such an apperance hid the girl's true personality. She was a mean and spoil young girl that demanded all her parents' attention. For so long Minato and Kushina had turned a blind eye to their daughter behavior in hope that she would grow out of it, but over the years they found that her behavior have grown worse.

"I said we are not going and that's final." Kushina snapped her patience running thin as frustration and worry raged a battle within her._ Where was her son? _It was getting late the sun has already set and the food was getting cold. She wanted to go out and look for him but she was afraid that if she was to leave and he did come home she would miss her chance. Over the years Kushina would admit that she was not the best mother she could have been to Naruto. With being a shinobi, wife of a Hokage, and Aiko taking up her time she had neglected him. She wanted this dinner to show her son that she had not forgotten him and that she did in fact love him just as much as she loved her daughter.

" Well, we'll see what daddy have to say about that when he get's home. As Hokage he must attend the festival," Aiko saids with a smug tone. Knowing her dad would side with her instead of her mother since her daddy always gave her whatever she wanted. She was glad her parents decided not to have anymore children desides her and her brother. Since her parents hardly gave Naruto a thought and spent so much time and attention on her it made her feel as though she was their only child.

"What do I have to say about what?" Minato asked as he came through the door. There was no traces of the tears he had shed earlier and on his face was a smile that hid his turbulent emotions as he faced his wife and daughter. He took in his surroundings and noticed that his wife have gone all out on dinner. He can only assume that she had just as he came to the same realization of how they have treated their son and wanted to fix the problem. Now said son was not there.

" Where's Naruto?"

" Who knows and who cares. Mom says we're not going to the festival cause we have to celebrate the baka's birthday."Aiko answered her father. She was just ready to hear her dad tell Kushina that they were going. At least, that she could go.

"Aiko your mother is right. This is your brother's twelfth birthday and we should be here to celebrate it. There will be other festivals that we can attend." It hurt Minato to hear how disrespectful his daughter was toward her own brother. Yet, another thing to regret. He was at fault for how she was.

Aiko could not believe it. Her daddy had never denied her what she wanted and always took her side. Even against her own mother, his wife. How can he tell her no?

"What? That's not fair. I don't want to stay home while all my friends are having fun at the festival just to celebrate that demon birthday."

"Aiko! That's enough!" Screamed Kushina

Aiko didn't waste time listening to her mother. She ran to her room and slammed the door. If they wanted to celebrate that monster birthday then they could do it without her.

Minato and Kushina watched helplessly as their daughter ran out. Both with their own thoughts of regret. _How had it come to this?_

"Minato what are we going to do?"

"I don't know honey?"

"Have you heard from Naruto? He hasn't been home at all today."

Now that did surprise Minato. Although he had not spent much time with his son he has noticed that his son was never one to deviate from routinue. His son always came home on time from the Academy and would quietly go to his room.

"No I have not. I thought he was already here when I had left the office. If I had known he wasn't I would have looked for him on my way home."

"Then we should go look for him."

"No you stay here just in case he does come home. I'll look for him." Minato says as he makes his way out the door. One of them should stay here to keep an eye on their daughter. He'll search the village for his son and if he still cannot find him then he'll enlist help from other shinobi's to search for him.

_Where are you Naruto?_


	2. Chapter 2

It's calm, quiet as the little boy sits in a vast field under the giant tree that's seem to have been there for centuries. With the moon and stars bearing witness the little boy let free his tears.

**Why? Why is it me?**

**What have I done to deserve this pain?**

**Why do they hate me?**

The tears seemed endless as Naruto cried out years of pain and suffering. It pained Kyuubi to hear his little kit cry, but there was nothing he could do to lessen the boy suffering. No words of comfort to be said. Kyuubi could only sit in his cage listening as Naruto cried. In truth, he believed that it's good that the little boy had finally broken down for now he'll be able to heal a bit from all the emotional scarring he's been put through by the village. Thinking of the Konoha village made the giant fox angry. What he wouldn't do to burn the useless village to the ground for what they have done to his poor boy. How he would like to act on his anger, but Naruto right now doesn't need a raging bijuu. So, he sang a lullaby to his kit. A song only the two have shared for years since they've been together.

_Watashi no akachan ima kuchidome_

_mada nakanai koto_

_watashi wa kono komorio-uta o utau yo ni ai o kiku_

_suimintoyume_

_nagare taka no yo ni_

_namida ga arainagasumashou_

_kenen sa rete iru yo ni futan _ _koreijo ni narun_ _im dewa shizukesa watashi no akachan_ _mada nakanai koto_ _watashi wa kono komorio-uta o yo ni ai o kiku_

The tears was slowly falling down Naruto's face as he listened to Kyuubi sing. He closed his eyes and allowed the words of the song to wash over him and imagined a world of peace and love that was foreign to the boy. As Kyuubi sang he gave up the fight and slept under the century old tree, in the vast field, under the moon and stars that witnessed his suffering. His sanctuary away from a lonely home and hate filled existence.

S


End file.
